There’s no specific, reliable number for the jobs that Mitt Romney supposedly destroyed and created during his tenure at Bain Capital, the private equity firm that he headed between 1984 and 1998. But one thing is sure-whatever jobs were lost in companies acquired by Bain, or shut down in a few cases, they were a tiny fraction of job destruction and creation in the American economy as a whole. Most people don’t know that the economy destroys and creates millions of jobs every year. A monthly survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics captures the details. Called the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, it tracks the numbers of workers leaving and entering jobs. In 2010, the latest full year available, employers made over 47 million hires, and there were over 46 million job separations. Of the latter, there were 21.3 million voluntary departures (quits), and 21.2 million separations. This happened in a labor force of 154 million. As 2010 illustrated, about 30 percent of all jobs turn over in a year, and the labor market in the United States is in a constant state of flux. That’s one of the strengths of the American economy, although those separated involuntarily might not see it that way. Hires typically exceed separations, except during recessions. On January 10 the Labor Department published data for November 2011. The number of job openings was 3.2 million, little changed over the year. There were 4.1 million hires and 4 million separations, and the national unemployment rate edged down, to 8.7 percent. Despite that high rate of unemployment, and with jobs hard to come by for many seekers, there were more quits than layoffs. About 2 million people quit in November, compared to 1. 7 million who were terminated. During recessions and often beyond, separations exceed hiring. (Excerpt) Read more at realclearmarkets.com …